thank you bic

so what was i thinking.....
that lighters were just
something
that people used
and didn't seek to collect
for their special editions
silly me!

thank you bic
for setting me straight
never again will i question
why people buy lighters.....

but if you don't mind
could you help fill me in with
what on earth do two lighters have to do with each other?
and what on earth are they a special edition for?

measurment

i wait all year long for this day
i count down the days to this day
like i do to the 100th day of school
and like i do to the 180th day of school
(which happens to be 21 more days!!)

this is the day we make body cut outs!

this lesson is part of our measurment science kits....
we use these body cut outs for tons of things
we use them while we learn about units of measurement
(non-standard and standard)
we use them to talk about how we are alike and different
we use them to compare and contrast our own bodies

but the number one reason i love to use these body cut outs

is to laugh at how the kids see themselves!
:)

oh outside

this past week, my friends and i went on our very last field trip
for the kindergarten year
we spent the day exploring nature
at tanglewood park

we listened to stories about being in the woods and meadows
we listened to stories about using our senses
we listened for new sounds,
we looked at the clouds
we rolled in the grass
we learned that getting dirty wasn't too bad
we had fun looking at fish, trying to catch frogs, and capturing bugs
we had a blast....

then we got back on the bus
to head....
to the park!

where the kids played played played
until it was time to eat lunch....
and then played played played until they couldn't play anymore!

it was a super beautiful day
full of fun exploration
and learning!

happy mother's day!

happy mother's day!!!
to all the special women in my life,
who help me realize what an awesome job
being a mom is! :)

love to you all!!

stealing

i just stole this from randi
for some reason, i love these meme things....
so i just had to do it! :0)

what is your current obsession:
counting the number of days left in school!
24 more!! :)

whats your weirdest obsession:
i can't stand for my fingernails or toenails to have any white at the ends.....i HAVE to cut it off!

what are you wearing today:
i'm still in my pj's....i tend not to want to get dressed on days i am doing laundry!

what would you like to learn to do:
lots of things
html stuff
knit
photo editing
scrapbooking (both digital and for real)
clean ... and get rid of all the cat, dog, and l.o.v. hair.... (it is EVERYWHERE!!!!!!)
sew (so i could make curtains and cute stuff for my home)
paint my fingernails/toenails (you would think i could do such a thing, but NO luck!!)

last thing you bought:
prescriptions

what are you listening to:
the dryer and the ac

favorite weather:
NOT SUMMER!!!
i LOVE LOVE LOVE when it is cold!!!!
but could live for the rest of my life in 60 degree weather

most challenging goal right now:
giving all my worries to God!
and trusting Him to make the decisions for our future
:/

favorite guilty pleasure:
staying in bed all day and watching golden girls!
:)
those days don't come very often, but they are the best!!! :)

favorite vacation spot:
i do so love the beach and the mountains
but i'll be happy anywhere, as long as i can have time to relax

if you could go anywhere in the world right now for an hour, where would you go:
not too far away....
i would go to durham to see BBF
i miss her toooo much!

favorite thing about the city you live in:
it isn't too big, but has lots to do, and i've made some really good friends here

favorite piece of clothing you own:
pj pants and hoodie sweatshirts
:)

whats your dream job:
well, i want to teach (i guess i can check that off the list)
be a developmental specialist (and work with sweet precious babies!!)
and be a mommy (some day :))

describe your personal style:
i'm
easy going and ocd at the same time..
loud and quite at the same time...
outgoing and shy at the same time...
serious and funny at the same time...
brave and scared at the same time...

so i guess you can say....
i'm confused! :)

if you had to slap one person with no repercussions who would it be and why:
well, i have one person in mind,
however, i don't think i can say!
guess you will have to email me to find out!
ha!!

green is good

at school
we have a discipline chart that has colors...you know kind of like a stop light, but we use paws....and we have five colors
i despise the whole negative discipline thing....
but it is what it is...and i do it because i am told to....
but i honestly feel like the kids would get farther in life if we focused on the positives, and redirected the negative..... especially in kindergarten
and this is why i'm on the discipline committee,
and why i feel the need to give my granola (as my assistant principal describes my "hippie" ideas) approach to discipline but until change happens....we will continue with how the world is right now.....

each day, the children start on green,
and move through colors as consequences for their behaviors.
so green is good!
i do what i can to encourage the kids to stay on green (or scare them to do the right thing), and promised them at the beginning of the year an everybody on green paw party if we all could do the right thing for a number of days.....
our goal was 100 days, with every one on green!
i realized quickly that if we got to 50 days....that was going to be an accomplishment worth celebrating.....
so in april....
we finally did it!
50 days with EVERYONE on green!
i set out to find green things....
that could reward them for their behavior....
we had green apples,
green peeps
broccoli
celery
and apple grape juice in green boxes....

i was oh so excited for their accomplishments
AND
totally surprised that i had NO broccoli or celery left over!

friends

ever since i was a little girl,
since i was five, but close to six years old,
i have had four special friends
four friends who have never let me down
four friends who can always pick me up when i need a laugh
and, thanks to modern technology,
four friends who can always be there for me with the touch of a button!

as i look back on my relationship with them,
i wonder why my parents let me be friends with them
but then i realize, they were friends with them too!

but now, as our relationship continues
i am so thankful that i know these four ladies

rose, sophia, dorothy and blanche
thank you for being a friend!
i love their stories,
their sarcasm,
their singing,
their dreams,
i just love them!!!!!

so you can imagine, yesterday, i was so excited, as i always am, when i most favorite episode came on!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE when sophia sings....

god bless that sicilian woman!

sharing is caring!

so my school bff
sent me a text the other day that said
"some lady is bringing some books to my office, i'll let you know when they get here, you can have some for your classroom."

YAY! free books! i love that!

i got a text from her friday that said
"seriously?
the books....
ARE HERE!"

OH BOY! :)

so after school, i talked to her
and she told me the story
and it was just toooo sweet not to share...

so a lady, who is a parent at another school in our school system,
and her daughter
brought the books to our school.

the sweet lady said that the kids at her daughter's school had heard that the kids at our school didn't have very much money for books, and the kids decided do do a book drive.

they collected three huge boxes full of books

and decorate the boxes to let the kids know they were thinking of them

just cause!

how stinking sweet is that!!!

my kids don't know it yet,
but they will spend tomorrow reading, reading, reading,
and making thank you note cards
for these precious children who thought enough about them to share with them! :)

what better way

field trips are such a great way to learn things!!!
back in april....
my little friends and i went with the kindergarten on a field trip
to the most amazing place ever...
and when i say amazing, i mean amazing for the kids AND the teachers....
the moment our buses drove up,
the workers at the heritage theater were waiting for us.

the heritage theater is a small little school house, which was started by a retired teacher (i found out later that it was started by the same retired teacher than flake and i went looking for while we were on our honeymoon, because he knew that she had built a school house museum on the blue ridge parkway. we were unable to find her, because according to the locals she had 'closed her school house museum down to start some theater back where she came from.' you can imagine his excitement to know she was still out there influencing young people's learning like she had for him.) this retired teacher decided that she wanted to expose children to all different types of things from the past, but allow them to learn with an hands on approach. the retired teacher, who calls her self granny blue ridge, works with her friend mama blue, and some high school students to give children this cool experience.

as soon as granny blue ridge and the others took all the kids from the teachers, they divided them into 6 groups. the workers took the kids through 6 different stations, and taught them all about what kids did a long time ago...the toys they played with, the schools they went to, etc.

all the while....
the teachers got to sit in rocking chairs and be pampered....seriously....they had drinks, snacks, lotions, little massage things, manicure and pedicure materials, books, magazines, and time just to relax!

it was an awesome experience....
the kids got to make their own toys, just like the kids a long time ago would play with, and they got to experience other toys, which made their learning so much more meaningful to them
and at the end of all the fun, the kids got to learn one more thing....
how people made and enjoyed music a long time ago....

and what better way to learn that....
than laughing at your teachers,

as they played in a band!!

oh april

oh april was such a busy month for me!
i never realized it would keep me so busy OR that i would stay away from blogger and my bloggy friends for so long, but it did!
i had been thinking that all of you were just left wondering what was going on with me, but then i realized that april was kind enough to hack into my account and give you an update on my whereabouts!
thank goodness for the dear sweet month of april!

april was so full for me, and i'm excited for all the fun that i experienced, yet so excited that MAY is here! (and i do hope may will not need to hack into my account!)

while i was gone.......
my brother got married!

he and his beautiful wife had the first of their three weddings.
this first wedding was on easter sunday at my parents church and home.
it was an exciting time, for all of us and was totally a family affair!
paul and andreea, along with a few helping hands, prepared ALL the food for a traditional romanian easter feast. (andreea is romainian)
andreea's mother arranged all the flowers,
my father preformed the ceremony,
and everyone else helped in every possible way.....especially when it came time to eat!

i also ran(most of) my first 5k.

it was a fun training journey,
which i learned a lot....made new friends...and remembered why i enjoyed running!
so i'm looking forward to running another 5k....beating my time, and running the entire thing!
OH and i hope to keep a smile on my face....and not look like i do in the picture at the top left of this collage....i look like i was hating life!

we went camping
and for some reason, i don't have many pictures from the adventure....
but the memories i have will last for many years to come!
we left town after work on a friday afternoon, and headed up to the nicest campground i have ever stayed in, only problem....we couldn't find it!
we (flake & i, along with a group of friends) traveled up in 4 separate cars, none of us leaving at the same time, and every one of us got lost when the directions ran out!
after we finally got there, and got settled, the adventure began.
we had a blast, and i learned a few things....

*take socks for flake....so he doesn't have to wear mine when he gets cold at night....

(and yes he has one on inside out!)

*when we go tubing, I WILL GET WET! despite what flake tries to convince me of.....i now know that there is NO possible way to not get drenched!!!!! or loose your sun glasses....or stay warm in mountain water in the middle of april!

*when the camp host warns you to put ALL coolers away at night....into the cars....so the bear who has never come this far into the campsite, but who does live around these parts will not get into your things.....he means.....PUT YOUR COOLER AWAY!
even if flake seems to think there isn't anything in it, and because it is a metal cooler, the bear wouldn't want to get in it any way....

WRONG!
it is hard to see, but those are his "finger" prints on the bottom right hand corner
the bear was able to get into our cooler....and let me tell you bears are picky!
in the cooler was a random assortment of things....beer, woodchuck, jelly, 2 half gallon lemonades, cheese (in one of those plastic cases), and pringles (the little 100 calorie serving containers).
the only thing that wasn't just bothered, but actually missing was the cheese...and the container...
thank goodness that one of the little kids who went camping with us, found the cheese case in the woods!

so, you can imagine, how fun and exciting the month was....
lets just hope for may to be the same! :)
except for the whole bloggy hiatus!